Observations on Color - Light vs Dark

[YakRunabout]

A common question on lure selection is color. This site has a lot of information on lure color. Any book on fishing will likely have a section on color. My recent observations are not related to color directly, but rather to light vs dark, since these were in low light situations.

We have some cats and the two that are involved in this are a large black cat, Buddy, (tuxedo by cat coloring, but black on the side view) and a young, smaller white cat, Sugar. Sugar is still a kitten and is intrigued by Buddy, but Buddy is not very approachable. Still she follows him around. So a month or so ago early in the AM I hear some cat movement and one is walking across the floor heading towards the door. I get up on an elbow to see who it may be. The wall behind the doorway is dimly lit from a nightlight in the hallway. I clearly see Buddy passing this wall and out the doorway. A few feet behind I see Sugar also pass through the doorway, but I can barely see her. I know it is her by her small body.
A few nights ago I hear a cat heading toward the bench below the window in the bedroom. The window shades are open and I can see the street outside lit up by the streetlight. I barely make out the shape of Sugar getting up onto the bench seat. Another situation with a dimly lit backlight.
In these instances I can clearly see the dark cat pass in front of the dimly lit background, but when it is the white cat it is not so easy to see.

So, if I were a fish observing this passing bait I would be more likely to react to the dark shape as opposed to the light. I can think of many situations where the lure is between the fish and the light source. In this case it seems that it is not the color that is key, but more of a light vs dark - which color or contrasting colors, shows the best silhouette.

Another related observation but with the opposite lighting situation – Sugar is in the backyard during the day, bright sky. We have some bird feeders and she is sure she is going to sneak up on one of those birds. A couple of problems – she has not yet learned the low to the ground, hunting cat approach – instead she walks forward with her tail straight up – a bright white object the birds can clearly see. So she is not yet successful. The downside to being a bright white visible object is that she attracted the attention of a passing hawk, who came swooping in trying to carry her off. Luckily she ducked out of the way. My wife is now paranoid about letting her out until she gets a bit larger.

There is also a fishing lesson here – In the right lighting conditions the bright color stands out and draws attention.

Enjoy your next outing.

[TigerLandSportsman]

Nicely said

[Yaklash]

I won't pretend to know how a trout's eyes see and would assume their eyes work differently than humans', but much of what you wrote in this post has been written by others way more scientifically informed than I am.

Good post, though I am not sure what you're doing sitting around watching cats and thinking up fishing metaphors

[YakRunabout]

. . . though I am not sure what you're doing sitting around watching cats and thinking up fishing metaphors -

Yaklash - I cannot disagree, some may call it a sickness, I just say I am a fisherman, which explains it all!!

I guess that this observation struck me because I was surprised at how different I saw the two cats - one fairly distinct, one much less so. I did not expect that much of a difference.
I have read things like those you refer to and I thought - OK, sounds logical.
But here I saw it - and thought - oh, there it is!

[shanajn]

I am a former and recovering deer hunter from Illinois. The same theories hold true with camo. It is not the color that matters it is the contrast. For decades the outer wear of choice was a red and black plaid flannel shirt. Broke up your outline in the woods. Today it is a fancy camo pattern, but the principle remains. It is why you can wear blaze orange camo and be fine.

I think what you are saying about the lure color choice is the same, with the exception that you want your lure to be recognized in the water as opposed to be hidden.

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[TroutSupport.com]

I think it's always good to observe and think. That makes us all better at what we do.

I also think we underestimate the ability of fish to find almost silent, semi transparent forage and find it in the dark of night, in muddy water... with no rattle and no black pigment. I recently read an article that discussed a fishes lateral line, I wish I could remember who wrote it as I love to give credit where it is due. Anyway, a fishes lateral line is comprised on 100's of tiny pressure sensors... akin to us having 'ears' all the way down our sides even all the way to our toes in a 'StarTrekian' manner. They can feel a pressure wave off the slightest movement of water from any object and be able to feel where it's going and how fast. Think about our windy Texas spring and falls.. only the south shoreline stays clear and maybe (maybe) some of the grass flats with sandy bottoms. 90% of the bays coast-wide are rolled up with muddy water 3 out of 4 days... the fish would starve if they waited to feed when it was only clear. I've also caught trout after running out of 'dark' colors in YoHoo colored water and had to use clear with a silver sparkle right at sundown with clouds reducing light even further and certainly no sun rays to illuminate the silver flake. Don't even think I had a rattle in that one either. Talk about eye opening. I wonder if I could have seen the 'cloaked' kitty kat. The fish didn't need to see it but they found it. Crazy. So back to dark and light... use what you have confidence in and find the fish.

now about you staying up late and thinking about pussy 'cats'... Im with yaklash on that one. LOL.

[YakRunabout]

Perhaps I should clarify the circumstances on my observations. I am not staying up at night to monitor the cat movement. If I did it would be more like non-movement – do you realize just how much cats sleep?!
Anyway, lately I have been waking up around 4 or 5 AM and it takes a while to get back to sleep for another hour or 2. This is also about when the cats are getting up and active. So it was one of these mornings that I heard some cat interaction, not too aggressive but just a minor altercation. Sugar was still fairly new in the family and Buddy still tended to discourage any interaction. I watched the doorway to verify which cats were involved. I saw Buddy and shortly after saw Sugar – surprised at how much less obvious she was.

Not long before this I had read “Why Fish Don’t See Your Lures” by Dr Greg Vinall where he discusses color perception by fish in various conditions of weather, water clarity and water depth. So this topic was fresh in my mind. I was struck by how different my perception of the two passing cats were and since fishing is a common topic that swirls around my brain at 5 in the morning before I get back to sleep, I made that connection. He did indicate in the book, as you mention, that vision is just one of the senses that fish use to locate bait, and often not the main sense used, depending on local conditions.

My approach to fishing is a bit more refined now than when I started this a couple of years ago. Back then I would not have made the connection to fishing. But in that time I have fished (the main learning tool), learned from posts on this site and from various books on fishing in this area, and from the Trout Support videos. I am keying on different aspects now than I did back then. It is time for me to break out the TS videos again to see what I pick up from them this time around.

[TroutSupport.com]

YakRunAbout... we knew and understood what you were doing. We were just ribbing you bro.

I thought it was a great analogy and great observation, well done sir.

[LOOKN4REDS]

Good topic discussion. I would agree with the light vs dark also consider under water, colors are different as viewed by the human eye. So exotic colors may actually appear as dark or light anyway. No idea what a fish sees but with very limited intelligence capacity not sure they NEED to see color. Their whole life is prolly a reaction and response to stimuli. But then again, I have been outsmarted more than once by tailing Reds.

[YakRunabout]

Tobin - In the words of Emily Litella -

Oh, then, never mind . . .

[TroutSupport.com]

Tobin - In the words of Emily Litella -

Oh, then, never mind . . .

LOL.. good on Emily and thanks for having a sense of humor. I really did like the discussion tho, and it was a really great observation. The biggest thing is really 'if something gives you confidence, then use it". I still use light and dark colors very similar to how you observed, but I'v also seen it not make any difference. The real test, like I said will be using the super clear bait in dirty water. I'm pretty sure it would work if there are fish around and feeding though. And I want ALL the odds I can put in my favor so nothing at all wrong with adding color, contrast, dark vs light... it's all good.

[YakRunabout]

Hah - Emily Litella!!?? I posted that and realized that you and most on this board may have no clue on who Emily Litella is, let alone Gilda Radner, a blast from the past. Yaklash will likely know.

Anyway a key take-away for me from this if I can continue comparing myself to a fish. It was mentioned in the posts, but in both observations my attention was first drawn by a sound. This made me look in that direction where I saw that which was discussed. The sound was the key to initiating the observation. This is likely the initial key for fish as well, especially in the murky water around Galveston. The motion of the lure or the scent of the lure causes the initial attraction with the visual coming into play at the very last second.

Luckily I do not have such a good nose so that their smell is my first key on the presence of the cats!

[TroutSupport.com]

Hah - Emily Litella!!?? I posted that and realized that you and most on this board may have no clue on who Emily Litella is, let alone Gilda Radner, a blast from the past. Yaklash will likely know.

Anyway a key take-away for me from this, ...It was mentioned in the posts, but in both observations my attention was first drawn by a sound. This made me look in that direction where I saw that which was discussed. The sound was the key to initiating the observation. This is likely the initial key for fish as well, especially in the murky water around Galveston. The motion of the lure or the scent of the lure causes the initial attraction with the visual coming into play at the very last second. !

I like it. Nice work and spot on.

Gilda was awesome! Remember her well.



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